Generally, this kind of caliper brake, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,990, has a pair of brake arms carrying brake shoes and pivotally supported to a fixing member provided with a pivot shaft fixed to the bicycle frame. A return spring is provided between the brake arms and the fixing member, for biasing the respective brake arms in the direction of moving the brake shoes away from each other. After a brake lever is released, the return spring restores each brake arm to its rest position, and the brake lever is returned from the operating position to the restoring position through a control wire connecting the brake arms and brake lever.
The present applicant has hitherto proposed a brake device which is provided at a brake operating device having a brake lever with a lever spring for biasing always the brake lever toward its restoration position. A restoring force of the return spring is always weakened so that even when a transmission efficiency of the control wire is deteriorated after long use, the brake lever is operated in a good return feeling while the braking action is exerted always in a light touch, thereby enabling a cyclist to steer the bicycle without anxiety.
A brake operating device provided with a lever spring, however, can weaken the restoring force of the return spring at the brake, but a brake having a return spring with a weak restoring force, when set with a brake lever having a lever spring, is not problematical. When the brake is used in combination with a usual brake lever having no lever spring, since the restoring force of the return spring at the brake is too weak, the brake lever may not reliably return to the restoration position.